Tadashi's Quest
by lovelywik
Summary: Tadashi had only one thing in mind; he had to help. Someone had to. A oneshot.


There were moments where he made stupid decisions, and this was probably one of them. But once he had heard that panicking woman utter that Professor Callaghan was still in there, his brain sent one signal to his entire body. He had to go in there to save him.

He made sure Hiro stayed away from the fire first, his brother's safety always came first. His own? Not so much. Tadashi had run straight into the building, not really thinking. The only thought that spurring him to continue into the inferno was that he had to help his professor. That _someone_ had to help him.

Crawling on his knees so he wouldn't inhale as much smoke, he made his way slowly through the debris and isles of forgotten and now useless inventions. It was no wonder the fire had spread so quickly, the amount of chemicals and flammable material from the projects were definitely feeding to the fire.

A cough sputtered out his mouth, tears were welling in his eyes from the heat and smoke. Tadashi put his sleeve over his face, filtering the air he breathed in—though it didn't help much. The heat was intolerable, it was difficult breathing added with the cloth covering his face. With his other arm, he wiped his forehead against his sleeve. It didn't help much.

It felt like his cardigan was melting against his skin, which it probably was. All the equipment around him was melting, the smell of burning plastic, chemicals and metals filled the air along with the smoke. A loud crack filled the air. Tadashi quickly glanced up, a support beam towards his far left had fallen off from the ceiling. With a quick gulp of air, Tadashi moved faster. He had to get out of here soon, he had to get back to Hiro. But he had to find the professor first.

Squinting through the smoke and fire, he saw the faint outline someone tall with broad shoulders hidden behind the main stage, where Hiro had just recently presented his nanobots. Tadashi was still far, two or three isles of melting inventions and tables blocking his way. He let out a cough, opening his mouth to yell out his professor's name. But all that came out was another hoarse cough. He struggled to a crouch, coming up to a stand, still keeping his back hunched a little to keep away from the smoke. Tadashi put both his hands against his face to shout, hoping it would make his voice sound louder. That Callaghan would hear him.

"Pro-Professor!" He finally managed to croak out as he inched closer towards the stage. A harsh cough came along with his shout, making his dry throat ache. There was a slight pounding in his head as he took a step forward. "Professor Cal-Callaghan!" He saw the man turn his head towards his voice.

The light of the fire illuminated the older man's face, making something on the professor's forehead shine brightly, blinding Tadashi for a moment. He looked away, blinking rapidly. His eyes burned, his nose, throat, face—everything burned. Looking back towards the stage, he realized that the professor had disappeared. With a shuddering breath, he crouched down again, making his way towards the stage, trying his very best to avoid the scorching hot fire. He was breathing noisily and coughing after every few steps.

He could do this. He would find the professor, and find a way back out. There was an emergency exit by the stage, he remembered. Once he got the old man, they could get out through there.

When Tadashi coughed again, his breaths becoming short and ragged. His head felt light despite the throbbing ache in the back of his head. Everything around him was getting blurry, with each blink he saw double. He almost stepped right into a burning pile of junk, thinking it was the route towards the stage. Why was he in here? In this blistering heat? What was happening?

Right. Callaghan. He had to get the professor out.

Another loud crack filled the room, another steel beam was coming down somewhere. He swiped at his forehead, crouching even lower. The smoke was getting to him. The building was collapsing. There wasn't much time. He had to find the professor and get out of this place.

"Pr-Pr-Profes-essor!" He coughed out. "It's me! Ta-Ta-Tadashi!"

He stumbled, almost falling onto the hard floor. The ground was spotted with ash, grime and soot—soot that was moving. The dark spots on the floor were shaking, rolling towards the back of the stage. Hiro's nanobots. What had happened to them? They had been safely placed back into the garbage bins before their group of friends had left the building.

Tadashi followed them. Someone had to be controlling them, and the only other person in the burning building was Professor Callaghan. There had been something he'd seen about Callaghan before when he was further away, something related to the nanobots. But he couldn't think properly with the constant cough, burning eyes and pounding head.

The thousands of nanobots were collecting by the backstage, which was just beginning to light aflame. It was still difficult to breathe here, but the air was slightly clearer and Tadashi found himself standing straight. His eyes followed the movement of the nanobots as they skittered against the clean floor. He noticed that the emergency exit was blocked by fallen debris. His eyes followed the movement of the nanobots again. His brown eyes widened as they finally landed on huge pile, where the bots were collecting, surrounding a tall figure.

"Pro-professor?" He sputtered, which lead to a fit of hard mucus filled cough. He spat it on the floor, wiping his face as he looked at his teacher. "W-what are you do-doing with H-Hiro's bots?"

The look on the old man's face was impassive, but his eyes shone darkly and his brows lifted slightly up with shock. The neurotransmitter shone brightly on his forehead, reflecting the bright, hungry flames.

The professor opened his mouth, but there was a loud crack—louder than any of the other cracking sounds Tadashi had heard—that came from right above them. Suddenly the nanobots flew into the air, surrounding the man, forming a sphere around him which solidified into a sort of shield.

Glancing up, Tadashi watched as a metal beam began to descend right above him. With quick exhale, Tadashi jumped forward with his arms outstretched, trying to grasp _something_— _anything _to pull himself away from the falling beam. A scream erupted from his dry throat, tears welling in his eyes. He clenched his teeth, breathing short rapid breaths.

He looked down towards his legs, gagging at the sight. His legs were trapped underneath the beam, blood pooling around it. He shut his eyes tight, trying to rid the image from his mind, his cheek falling against the floor. This was unbelievable. Everything about the situation was unbelievable. He vaguely recalled the surge of shock he felt when he saw the building engulfed in flames. And that shock was nothing compared to this.

Professor Callaghan had been safe _all along _with Hiro's bots. And he, Tadashi Hamada, had acted stupid. He had recklessly gone into the inferno to try and be a hero—to try and save his long time idol and friend—only to get trapped under a metal beam.

A gasp of air left him, his body shaking uncontrollably. He let out a sob, tears streaming half-way down his face before evaporating, He had gone into the building, not really thinking about what else could happen. All he had thought was to save the professor. Why had he been so stupid?

He had left Hiro there by the stairs. And now he would never make it back to him. Just like their parents had never made it back.

_I'm sorry. I'm so sorry._ He thought._ I didn't mean for this to happen._

He prayed, wished, asked with all his might that Hiro, Aunt Cass, and his friends would be okay. That whatever happened after this, that they would be fine._ If only Baymax were here now, _he let out a short chuckle at the thought, but it was cut short with harsh exhale.

A burst of pain filled his shaking body. After the pain faded, he warily looked up. The sphere the professor had trapped himself in was reflecting the bright flames. He stared and stared at the sphere, his thoughts wandering to the events prior to this. Everyone else had escaped the building except for the professor, and the professor had had his hands on Hiro's work to keep him safe. But why did he even have Hiro's bots? Why had the professor stayed when everyone else had fled? He was perfectly capable of running, he wasn't _that_ old. _Unless_—

He had started the fire in the first place so he could _steal _Hiro's invention. _But for what? And why?_ Tadashi had no idea. He couldn't even tell anyone about this revelation.

Closing his eyes, he tried his best to breathe evenly in the smoke filled air. There was a distant sound of sirens, but his mind didn't process it. There was a surge in the fire, the heat increasing by tenfold. Tadashi felt a tingling on his foot, which quickly crawled up his leg. His head felt light, his body stopped shaking.

_I'm sorry_, he thought.

_I'm so sorry._

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Ahahah I hope you guys enjoyed this, I had fun writing this. But I'm not really sure how I feel about how it turned out. Oh well. Also, I very well know that like a minute after Tadashi had gone in there was that explosion but I'm writing as if the fire wasn't that bad yet.

If you see any errors, feel free to tell me. Thanks for reading!


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